Suspicious IRS Email Warning – Don’t be a Victim of Identity Theft and Avoid this Phishing Scheme
I want to warn everyone about a new email tax scam that has been circulating. It is targeted at “non-resident aliens” who are asked to fill out 2 official-looking IRS forms that are attached and fax them back to a 646 area code number.
The email header reads:
From: Internal Revenue Service [mailto:nonereply@irs.gov]
Subject: please see the attachment
According to the IRS web site:
A bogus IRS letter and Form W-8BEN (Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding) asked non-residents to provide personal information such as account numbers, PINs, mother’s maiden name and passport number. The legitimate IRS Form W-8BEN, which is used by financial institutions to establish appropriate tax withholding for foreign individuals, does not ask for any of this information.
If you do receive suspicious looking email, simply delete it from your inbox. You can also report phishing schemes or the fraudulent misuse of the IRS name, logo, forms or other IRS property by calling 1-800-366-4484 or visiting the Treasure Inspector General for Tax Administration web site.
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Tags: Identity Theft, phishing, tax expert, tax help, Tax Scams
